Recovery
by gaybaconprincess
Summary: [Lowered rating because of a change in plot, but still violent] After abuse, electroshock, and brainwashing, Jericho is finally transformed into The Joker's ultimate, homicide crazed Harley Quinn. Jason Todd steals Jericho away from this, trying to rehabilitate the former Titan. How far will he get before the kid tries to kill him again? And why does he fall in love so easily?
1. Sights

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This is going to be, you guessed it, a continuation of the JerX I've got set up in my other fic. This is essentially a telling of the time passed from when Red first rescues Jericho from the Joker to the time when Jericho fully becomes the Jericho in my story. Before you read this, go check out XxPhoenix FlightxX's fic Kintsugi. It's a great start to this story, and I couldn't have written it better myself.]

Jason sighed tiredly as he made his way into the living room to prepare some breakfast for both he and his new housemate. So far, progress with Joseph was going considerably good. Joseph had finally opened up to him, which brought a wave of relief to Jason now that he knew they had a chance to fix the broken shell that was Jericho. Joseph still flinched anytime he was yelled at, and blatantly expected to be beaten and hit whenever he did something.

Jason sighed again, his brows bushed together in worry and frustration. He wanted to help this kid, he really did. Jason knew what it was liked to be so fucked up to have no one want anything to do with you. Most people thought it was easier to just ignore broken people because they caused minor inconveniences in their lives.

"Gah!" Jason yelled, startled.

There, at five in the goddamn morning, sat Joseph on the couch. The boy fell asleep in the bathtub for christ's sake, how on Earth was he up this early? He'd obviously been neglected emotionally and seriously deprived of sleep, so why was the baggy eyed boy so intent on startling Jason so early in the morning?

Joseph didn't even turn to look at Jason, though he flinched into a more defensive position to show he knew someone was in the room with him. Instead of speaking to Jason, or better yet sleeping like any normal person should be doing right now, he was leaned towards the TV and staring at an episode of Looney Tunes like he was receiving a message from God.

"...Joseph…?" Jason questioned softly as he tapped the distracted boy on his still bony and frail shoulder. Joseph titled his head slightly to show he was listening, but kept his eyes glued to the large flat and multicolored screen in front of him.

"...Would you like some breakfast? Maybe some eggs?" Jason asked as he tried not to worry about the kid. He had to remind himself that Joseph hadn't been exposed to normal things like TV in a long, long time because of The Joker.

Joseph made a soft humming noise in agreement, barely nodding his head. Jason decided to just take it as a yes and continue his routine.

While Joseph 'ate' his breakfast, which really consisted of him looking down at the plate in front of him once before returning his attention to the cartoon characters he was so invested in, Jason set out throughout the building to gather every sharp or weapon like object he could find and hide it away. It wasn't that he was worried Joseph would hurt him - Jason could very easily defend himself - it was that he knew the boy couldn't control his homicidal tendencies just yet and that once he realized what he was doing, the kid would have another breakdown.

Jason felt a lot like a worried parent, to be honest.

When Jason returned to the living room, Joseph's food was untouched except for perhaps half of one egg, and Joseph himself was missing.

Jason immediately jerked into a defensive position, scrambling toward the hallway to find the small boy. Jason let out a large sigh of relief when he found Joseph very much unharmed and stable, just standing in one of the many rooms of his house and staring out of the window.

Jason approached him slowly, looking out onto the city with him. It was quiet and peaceful in the mornings of Gotham, the sun always bright and the people always much too tired to start trouble.

"...You get to see this every day?" Joseph practically whispered as Jason smiled warmly at the smaller.

"Yep. Gets pretty old after a while, but I guess it is a pretty great view at first glance." Jason explained, watching people walk by on the concrete like ants.

"...You have a very beautiful home, Jason." Joseph said as he finally turned to look at Jason's face for the first time today. Jason's heart crumbled just the smallest bit at the sad smile that seemed to be stuck on the victim's face.

"It's not really a home, I would think. A home is somewhere...special, emotionally. This is really just a very expensive penthouse that carries all of my belongings." Jason said to lighten Joseph's mood the slightest bit. Jericho's tired eyes looked back out onto Gotham again.

"...I don't think I've ever had a home then." Joseph said in a raspy, quiet voice.

As Joseph saw a very vulnerable looking man cross the street below, his eyes started dialing and his fists started clenching. His once tired, forest green eyes grew feral and neon as his whole body tensed with sick desire and his fist clenched around a weapon that wasn't there.

Jason laid a gentle hand on Joseph's, holding on to his fist enough to let him anchor himself to reality while staying gentle and kind at the same time. Joseph let out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding as his eyes returned to normal and his body relaxed itself, his fist unclenching and his fingers hanging limp and tired from Jason's hand.

Joseph frowned and the air around him seemed to change into a much sadder, darker one. He wanted to cry. He wanted to fall to his knees and cry like any other person, but he knew if he did he'd begin to laugh too. So instead, he closed his eyes that were still burning from sleep loss and rested his head on Jason's shoulder, not noticing how Jason inhaled sharply in surprise.

There was a long moment of silence between the two, something that Joseph naturally despised and Jason hated very much himself. Joseph didn't know why he hated it so much, he just knew he did. For Jason, the silence symbolized his aching head and throbbing fists from way too many nights spent planning organized attacks. But for some odd reason, the silence brought a sense of peace and safety to the two boys.

"...Do you promise you won't leave me Jason?" Joseph said finally in a frail voice. Jason looked down at the broken kid, his limbs bony and limp and his face sunken in.

"I promise, Joseph." Jason said guiltily. He knew there was no telling how long he could actually keep that promise, but for right now Joseph just really needed to hear that.

"Even though I'm all…" Joseph said before he paused, trying to gather the right words as he tightened his hold on Jason's hand.

"...fucked up?" Joseph finished. They'd had this conversation, Joseph knew, but he just needed to hear one more time that he wasn't completely useless.

"I promise, Joseph." Jason repeated with more strength this time.

Joseph hummed once as he rubbed his cheek against Jason's arm, trying his hardest to warm up his still freezing cold body. Jason was going to fix what The Joker had done, if it was the last thing he did. This kid, he wasn't a homicidal maniac, and he wasn't a psychotic killer. Jason knew Joseph was different before Joker came into play, but this just knocked him back. Joseph was frail, and at a loss with himself.

[Read and review! I hope this turned out okay.]


	2. Sleepless Nights

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Have a very balanced amount of angst and fluff. And romantically conflicted Jason.]

Jason was asleep when Joseph's first breakdown struck.

Jason had resigned to sleeping in the guest bedroom, letting Joseph take his. It was uncomfortable, the much taller and larger male being used to his taller and larger bed, but if it meant Joseph would actually get a good night's sleep then Jason thought it was worth it. The two rooms were right next to each other, so Jason could hear plain as day when Joseph started outwardly screaming at two in the morning.

"Joseph!" Jason yelled as he burst open the door to the dark room in all of his boxer brief glory. Joseph was attacking something violently, something that wasn't there.

Joseph had a very sharp knife in his hands (where he got it Jason was at a loss for) and was slicing it around himself. His eyes were bright and dilated like they were before, and he was screaming bloody murder at whatever seemed to be haunting him.

Jason looked into Joseph's crazed eyes, and he could see that whatever Joseph thought he was attacking, Joseph thought was real. Joseph twitched and jerked violently at random times, like flinching before an attacker hit. Joseph's eyes followed whatever it was he was seeing, and then suddenly the deranged boy had both of his hands coiled around the knife's hilt and was bringing the sharp object down on Jason. Jason easily caught both of his wrists in one hand before the knife even came close to hitting him, yanking the weapon out of the kid's grasp.

"Joseph! Joseph, it's not real! I promise, it's not real!" Jason shouted as the boy struggled and writhed in his grasp. Suddenly, Joseph's eyes flickered in fear as he started openly whimpering at something he saw behind Jason that still was only in his head.

"Joseph." Jason said as he gripped Joseph's face in his hands and laid their foreheads together, forcing Joseph to focus on him.

"It's not real. I promise it's not real. I know it looks real, and it feels real, but it's not. You have to trust me." Jason said softly as tears continued to run down the pale boy's face. Joseph's eyes flickered everywhere, as if looking somewhere else would keep Joseph from getting lost in Jason's very correct reasoning.

"Joey, please." Jason said in an even softer tone, bringing Joseph to finally look at him. Joseph's eyes slowly went back to their normal state, but it was obvious that he still saw his attacker behind Jason, and was still scared beyond reason.

"No one is going to hurt you - not while I'm here." Jason said as he ran his fingers through Joseph's dull blonde locks to soothe him.

Joseph hiccupped once before he harshly squinted his eyes shut and let more tears run down his face, practically crashing into Jason's chest and crying for the first time since he'd been with the boy. Joseph sobbed violently and it made Jason's heartache.

"I...I'm s-s-so s-sorr-ry…! I-I-" Joseph said brokenly between sobs and hiccups and leaving claw marks on Jason's back with how hard he was clutching onto Jason's shirt.

"It's...it's okay, it's okay, really." Jason said softly, letting the terrified boy hide in his chest. This went on for only a few more minutes before Joseph interrupted the moment.

"...Jason…! J-Jason, I-I'm crying! I'm crying and I'm not laughing!" Joseph gasped as he ripped himself from Jason's hold to smile up at the boy with a new sense of hope and courage.

"Yeah, yeah, you really are." Jason said as he smiled warmly at the excited kid.

And then Joseph started to giggle. Not laugh, but giggle. Not in an insane, homicidal, sadistic way either. Joseph giggled in joy at something he'd accomplished by himself for the first time in a very, very long time. When he realized what he was doing, he started crying again, but not out of fear.

And then Joseph began snickering in a very dorky way as he tried his hardest to speak through his laughter.

"Jason,...are those Superman boxers?" Joseph asked as Jason glared at him tiredly, causing the boy to erupt in even more giggles. Jason had forgotten that when he sped to check on the blonde, he was still in only his boxers.

"...They were on sale!" Jason defended, only getting more snickers in reply.

"Heh, alright blondie. Ready to go to bed now?" Jason said tiredly, the adrenaline of seeing Joseph in possible danger already drained out of his system.

Joseph's face immediately fell, and he looked fearful and worried again. His shoulders started to shake before he looked up with the most desperate, hopeful look Jason had ever seen on a person.

"Will you stay with me?" The boy asked in a small voice, as if he completely expected rejection. The poor kid looked like a kicked puppy caught in the rain, so of course Jason couldn't just say no. Honestly, Jason probably would've ended up doing so anyway. He knew exactly how terrifying it was to stay by yourself after a hard time like Joseph's.

"Of course." Jason answered with a sigh and a smile. Joseph's smile seemed to mimic Jason's, only his looked much brighter and child like.

The two boys settled into Jason's large bed, Jason himself sighing at how he now knew he wouldn't be tossing and turning all night.

After about an hour of Jason pretending he was asleep to get into a catatonic state, he gave up and started watching Joseph. It was creepy, he knew, but seeing the boy's figure slowly rise and fall with the most peaceful expression he'd ever seen on his face brought a sense of tranquility to Jason.

Suddenly, the boy's eyebrows furrowed and he shuffled around for a moment, startling Jason, who went back to pretending to being asleep to not freak the boy out.

Jason felt some dips here and there from how Joseph moved around for a bit, and before his mind could catch up to what had happened, Joseph had his thin lips pressed to the swell of Jason's cheek.

"...Thanks, Jay." Joseph whispered sleepily before he fell back into the bed, and almost immediately went back to sleep.

Whereas Joseph slept deep and fine for the first time in months, Jason laid awake for the rest of the night with his mind buzzing, his hand laid on his still tingling cheek, and his entire face redder than his own blood.

Jason might've been thinking way too into the kiss, but he laid awake that night and many nights to come thinking of how on Earth to get Joseph to do that again. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, and his whole body lit up like an electric wire.

Somewhere deep inside himself, Jason Todd knew it was a terrible idea to start having romantic feelings for the person you were supposed to be rehabilitating. Scratch that - every single molecule in Jason's entire body screamed at him that it was a bad idea, and Jason was aware of that. Did that stop his heart from doing backflips? Of fucking course not.

Jason groaned tiredly as he flipped over and smothered his still very much red face into his pillow, resigning himself to not getting any sleep that night.

[Read and review! Thanks!]


	3. Outside

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This plot point was suggested by XxPhoenix FlightxX, by the way. Also, the clothes in this are supposed to resemble/are based off of Harley Quinn's Insurgent design in Injustice: Gods Among Us.]

It'd been about three weeks since Joseph had first started living with Jason, and things had progressed quickly. Jason had taken to calling the blonde 'Joey' instead of 'Joseph' all the time, and Joseph was slowly learning to neglect things he could possibly use as a weapon.

Jason also learned that Joey was a terrible, terrible cook. This was something Jason planned on changing.

Jason would often make pancakes or some elaborate pasta in the kitchen, Joey always either sitting across from him or sitting on top of the counter as he babbled on about god knows what.

"Okay...next I need… Uh, hand me that if you would." Jason said pointing over to where a bag of grated cheese sat on the counter, closer to Joseph than it was Jason.

Next to the bag sat a very sharp, glinting knife.

Joseph reached his hand out, his eyes widening as he pulled his hand back just a centimeter before he quickly snatched the bag and handed it to Jason. Jason took the bag from Joseph, smiling warmly at the boy.

"...What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Joseph asked with a tilt of his head.

"No reason." Jason said as he ran a hand through Joseph's still messy hair.

There was silence between the two for a moment as Jason continued cooking and Joseph thought long and hard about what he was about to say.

"...Jay, I want to go into the city." Joseph said finally, a determined, fierce look in his eyes as he looked up at a now surprised Jason. Jason ran a hand through his hair, sighing sadly before he answered.

"...Joey, you know I can't let you do that. You're...you're not ready for people yet." Jason said sadly as he avoided Joseph's fallen gaze.

"I promise I can handle it! I've come so far! Please, Jay? I'll wear a leash!" Joseph begged as Jason spluttered for a moment, choking on the water he was previously drinking.

"N-N-N-No! No, no, no, no. That's - that's okay." Jason said in response.

"...Me and Johnny are going to the mall today to pick up some stuff." Jason said with his head in one of his hands, admitting defeat after he'd caved to the pleading look in Joseph's eyes.

"Yes!" Joseph cheered to himself quietly, squealing like a child.

"I'll let you pick out some clothes while we're there. I take it you don't like the ones I've been getting you considering you've been wearing mine lately." Jason said with a smile as Joey laughed in embarrassment.

"But you can't talk to anyone, and you have to hold my hand the entire time so I can make sure you don't run off or attack anyone. Deal?" Jason asked as he held out his hand for the blonde to take. Joseph smiled wide and happy as he took Jason's hand with ease.

* * *

"Ugh, Red, you said we were here to pick up the Package from our supplier, not go shopping for school supplies with a twelve year old." Johnny whined as he sat next to a disguised Red-X in a generic clothing store.

"He's not twelve." Jason said with a glare shot his companion's way, not very at ease with the thought of him crushing on someone that young.

"He's seventeen, and we've gone over this already. He only acts like he does because he's kind of...stuck, in a way. God, you really could bitch about anything." Jason elaborated with his still ever present glare.

Before Johnny could complain further, Joseph suddenly appeared in front of them wearing black skinny jeans, a pair of shades, a beanie, and a jacket and shirt that matched Jason's. Joseph slid toward them, snapping double finger guns at the two.

"Am I cool yet?" He asked, obviously trying to mimic Jason's voice.

Johnny just about exploded in horrendously loud laughter, doubling over and crying actual tears at how funny the whole thing was. Jason's face bloomed three different colors as he huffed and snatched the beanie off of Joseph, pushing him back in the direction of the clothes.

"Go find some real clothes!" Jason said after he got done grumbling at the display. Finally, Johnny stood up from his bout of painful laughter, wiping a few tears away in the process.

"Oh God, I take everything back Jase - you have to keep this kid, he's a riot!" Johnny commented, falling into another bout of chuckles as he steadied himself on his boss' shoulder. Jason rolled his eyes dramatically as he hit Johnny over the head with the back of his hand, causing a very loud and sharp 'snap' to echo.

"How about this?" Joseph said as he returned to the two.

Joseph was decked in black and red skinny jeans that, even though Jason tried to tell himself they didn't, showed off Joseph's figure nicely. He wore a black leather jacket and a white shirt with a spray painted cupcake on it. He also donned large black combat boots and a belt that hung loosely over his figure. Jason sat and stared for a while, his mouth hanging open before Johnny reached over and used his finger to close it for the gaping boy.

"Uhm...y-you're sure?" Jason said finally, now noticing the color pallet similarities between his and Harley Quinn's outfits.

"Definitely!" Joseph said excitedly as he bounced up and down on his heels.

"...Okay, okay fine." Jason said with a sigh as he approached the counter where they would pay.

"...You look...cute." Jason said finally, avoiding Joseph's gaze and hiding his own flushed face.

"...I know." Joseph said simply with a teasing smile as he grabbed ahold of Jason's hand like he'd promised he would.

Joseph had the most fun he'd had in awhile while he was with Johnny and Red at the store. At the next store they'd stopped at, he repeated his previous joke but this time making fun of Johnny's clothing, if only to help Jason get his revenge. Of course, he neglected to alert neither Johnny nor Red to how the urges kept coming, or how the voices screamed at him every time someone looked him in the face.

When he was with Jason though, the voices all faded out so that he could provide his full attention to the other boy. All of the urges were qualmed by the feeling of Jason's hand cradling his.

Joseph didn't recall smiling so much in one day out of his own free will for a very long time before this.

[Read and review! Again, the outfit I tried to mimic is the Insurgent Harley Quinn outfit in the first Injustice.]


	4. Remembrance

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story.]

"Hey Joey." Jason called as he starting setting up a game of chess.

"Let's play a game." Jason said, smiling in return to Joseph's excited one as the boy plopped down across from Jason.

"For every move you make, you get to ask me a question about whatever you want." Jason said as he started laying out all of the pieces.

"And for every move I make...you have to answer a question about your past." Jason said carefully. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Joseph furrow his brows in thought as he looked skeptically at the board. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him and he answered simply.

"Okay." Joseph said after taking a deep breath. This was going to help him, he knew it would because Jason was asking him to do it.

Jason turned around to set the box to the chess board and pieces away somewhere, returning only to see that Joey had switched all of his black pieces for white ones. Rolling his eyes amusedly, Jason sat across from Joey and gestured for him to move.

Joseph picked up a knight, moving it forward and left as it was meant to.

"...Why are you a bad guy?" Joseph asked innocently enough. Jason sat and thought for a few moments, trying to decide how to word it.

"Gives me strength that I didn't have before. My whole life I've been pushed around and told what to do, because I was a little kid and so I obviously didn't know how the world worked. But I do, and I seem to be the only person who knows what's best. If everyone were all nice and pretty, there wouldn't be such thing as superheroes. No one would need them." Jason said as he glared down at his pieces.

"I'm a bad guy because sometimes that's what it takes to keep the world spinning. A little bad to even out all the good." the boy finished as he clenched his fist.

There was a death like silence in the room before Jason looked down at his pieces and moved his bishop long ways for a while. Jason reached down to grab something out of a case he had next to his feet.

"...Can you tell me who this is, Joseph?" Jason asked as he laid out a picture of Dick Grayson in front of him.

Suddenly, Joseph's breathing started to feel heavy and labored. His eyes wouldn't close as he seemed to relive the same moment over and over again. He felt himself launch across the room to push Robin away from the falling steel trap. He looked into the evil eyes of his oppressor for the very first time.

"...he has a dumb haircut." Joseph said quietly as he shut his eyes and forced himself away. As he made up lies, his mind started to unravel itself more. He didn't care, because the more he forced himself to believe his own words, the more his mind felt at ease with itself.

Jason laughed at Joseph's response, agreeing with him that Dick did indeed need a better hair stylist.

Joseph quickly grabbed a pawn and moved it, trying to move the conversation along to someone involved with a lot less of his pain.

"Can I be a bad guy?" Joey asked in his always babyish voice.

"No." Jason said quickly, avoiding Joseph's curious gaze.

"No, it's too dangerous for you." Jason elaborated before he swiftly moved another one of his pieces and pulled out an object from the case.

"What is this, Joseph?" Jason asked as he set a Teen Titans communicator in front of the boy.

"The ugliest phone I've ever seen in my life." Joey answered as he made a face and pushed the comm away.

Quickly, Joseph moved another piece, very delicately, his queen. Joseph sucked in a deep breath before he tried to look apathetic to his question.

"How do you really feel about me?" Joseph asked as he played mindlessly with a captured pawn.

Jason felt his heart stop. He knew that if he lied to Joseph and the boy found out, he wouldn't want to trust Jason again.

"...You're very close to me, Joseph." Jason answered finally, chuckling at the frustrated huff that came from his comrade.

"Joseph…" Jason said as he moved his rook closer and closer to Joseph's queen.

"Who is this man?" Jason finished as he set down a procured copy of Deathstroke the Terminator's criminal record, accompanied with a full picture of the old man.

Joseph stopped for a moment, staring down at the one eyed man with a mixture of disdain, fear, grief, and hatred.

"A well known criminal, according to this." Joseph said gesturing to the large file filled with hundreds and hundreds of law breakings.

Jason shook his head in defeat, starting to catch on to what Joseph was doing. Finally, he decided to pull out his trump card, so to speak.

"Joseph, what does this mean to you?" Jason asked quietly as he set down a playing card in front of Joseph. It was the same playing card The Joker made him carry everywhere, and it was the one Jason found in one of Joseph's pockets when he first caught the criminal.

It was dirty, and torn, and the face of a printed joker stared up at the blonde boy mockingly, shaming him for ever fooling himself that anyone could care for him.

Joseph's breathing got out of control as he started making a choking sound, backing away from the card until he knocked over his chair and was standing defensively on the other side of the room.

"Joseph…?" Jason asked in a worried voice.

Joseph suddenly started yelling and whimpering seemingly out of nowhere as he ducked for cover from a crowbar that no one saw but him.

"Joseph, it's okay! He's not here!" Jason called as he approached the breaking boy, only to be punched in the chest - hard. Jason approached him again, catching his wrists as Joseph tried to punch and claw at Jason, all while screaming and crying in fitful fear.

Jason slowly lifted one of Joseph's clawing hands to his lips, and placed a soft, chaste kiss to his knuckles. Joseph almost immediately loosened his fists, his shoulders unhunching as he saw what he was doing and started bawling into Jason's chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry…" Jason whispered as he let the boy cry and pet his hair.

Maybe it was better that Joseph never remembered. Because Jason promised to himself then and there, that if remembering made Joey hurt this much, he would never force him into it again.

[Read and review!]


	5. Voices

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This one is kind of sensitive.]

Jason was just about to turn the corner into the kitchen when he first heard Joseph talking to himself. At first it seemed harmless enough, Jason explained his own plans to himself when he was trying to work things out.

And then Jason heard what Joseph was saying.

"...you're right. If I was dead, then Jason would be happy. He wouldn't have me following him around like a lost kid all the time, and he could do what he wanted to do...but I don't know where Jason hid all of the weapons, how would I?...I know, you've already told me a thousand times by now...I know Jason doesn't love me, I'm scrawny and ugly and annoying and fucked up…NO!...no, I can't tell Jason about you or any of the other voices, he'd think I was still crazy...I know, I learned that a long time ago...there's no such thing as perfect love..." Joseph mumbled softly to himself in a strange voice.

"Joey." Jason called as he rounded the corner, pulling off the cheesiest fake smile he could muster.

"Who...who are you talking to?" Jason asked as he walked over to where Joseph was sitting on the counter. Jason was met with dumb silence and twitching, nervous fingers.

"Joey," Jason continued as he got closer to the shaking boy on his counter.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Jason finished as he knelt down to Joseph's height, his growth looking stunted even as his legs hung loosely off of the tall counter.

"...I think you're beautiful, Joseph." Jason said softly as he looked to the ground, avoiding the unmoving gaze that was locked onto Jason. Jason kicked himself for what he was about to do, but if this is what it took to make the kid feel better, then Jason was willing to admit it. When he was met with still awed silence, Jason continued with a deep breath.

"...I love having you here with me Joey. You make me smile and laugh more than anyone else has since I've come back. You're not annoying, and if you weren't here with me I'd feel alone again...you're right, you are fucked up, but that's another thing I love about you Joseph. You know what it's like, and after everything you've been through, you've moved on. You're one of the strongest people I know, and I'm a mob boss. You're right, you are crazy. But I guess I'm crazy too, because I feel like you're the only person who's ever made sense in my world. The only person who's ever listened to me, and respected the way I think." Jason continued, still refusing to look Joseph in the eye as he grabbed ahold of the boy's small hands and distracted himself by rubbing circles into the blonde's knuckles.

"Joey…" Jason said, finally looking up into the bright emerald eyes staring in awe at him.

"How long have you been hearing these voices?" Jason asked softly as Joseph became overwhelmed with guilt at ever thinking Jason wouldn't at least try to understand.

"...I don't know. A few months, I guess? However long that I've been here with you, and a little bit before that...they…they're my friends, Jason. They kept me alive when I was with...w-with…" Joseph explained, his voice wavering as his body refused to even let him say the word 'joker' again.

Jason suddenly reached forward and hugged Joseph's waist, letting the blonde rest his head on the top of Jason's shoulder when Joseph wrapped his arms around Jason's neck. Joseph felt himself unwinding, calming down in the safety of Jason, listening to his quiet breaths like a lullaby.

"...and what do your friends tell you, Joseph?" Jason continued, trying his very hardest to not push the boy over the edge.

"...they tell me that I'm worthless...that I don't have any reason left to live here...they say I'm stupid...I'm stupid for thinking you could ever…" Joseph said as he trailed off, his voice still wavering.

"...ever what, Joey?" Jason asked as he felt the boy strengthen his hold on Jason before he suddenly let go to look Jason in the eyes.

"...nothing...it's nothing important…" Joey said with a sad smile.

"Joey, you know how much it would hurt me if you died, right? You're very, very special to me. If you can't find any other reason, then let _me_ be your reason to keep living. Please?" Jason said softly, tilting Joseph's chin up to look at him.

Joey numbly nodded, his eyes wide and wonder filled like he'd just seen something in Jason he'd never seen in anyone in his whole life.

"...How about we watch some movies until bed? Would that make you feel better?" Jason asked with a soft smile, his heart leaping when Joseph's once numb face exploded in a beautiful flashy smile.

"Can we watch Sweeney Todd again?" Joseph asked as if he were talking about a Disney movie.

"Of course, whatever you want." Jason said with a chuckle as Joseph hopped off of the counter and scrambled towards the bedroom, already excited to see the very bloody and yet strangely entertaining movie.

Jason stayed behind for a moment, frowning to himself and groaning at his own stupid emotions.

Joseph was right, there was no such thing as perfect love.

But then again, nothing about either of them was really perfect, was it?

[Read and review! I like reviews, they help me feel motivated! This chapter made me sad.]


	6. Ink

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story.]

It was late at night, Jason and Joseph were both getting ready for bed when Joseph first mentioned how much he hated his tattooes. They were a 'gift' from The Joker. A way to constantly brand Joseph as his, and make him feel terrible and worthless and okay with feeling like that. It was his way of making sure Joseph always stayed a cheap Harley Quinn knock off.

Jason sat on the edge of the bed, getting ready to sneak under the covers with Joseph when he noticed what the other boy was doing. Joseph was huddled under the covers, curled up in a very insecure looking ball as he sadly traced his fingers over a dull, scraggly tattoo on his arm. It was terrible, and poorly done, and it said 'reality' in bad lettering. It was like even now, The Joker was still taunting the boy by reminding him that this was his reality now. He'd always be haunted and broken because of what that monster had done.

Jason laid down next to Joseph and wrapped his larger arms around the small boy, pulling their bodies closer as Joseph visibly relaxed at the feeling of being safe again.

They often did this - spooning, though Jason despised calling it that. Really, it was just an extra precaution they had developed when Joseph first started sleeping with Jason. Jason would wrap his arms around the boy, trapping him so that if he woke up in the middle of another hallucination or flashback, Joseph wouldn't be able to hurt himself or Jason. Usually, if Joseph did wake up fitfully like this, he would just turn and see Jason holding him strongly and relax back into his sleeping state. Jason would never, ever admit that his heart usually swelled every night that Joseph turned and buried himself in Jason's chest, cuddling him more or less.

"...Joey…? Are you okay?" Jason asked softly as he laid a hand on top of the one tracing the blonde's tattoos.

"...I don't like these, Jason. They make me sad." Joseph said simply in the tone of a child.

"...Go to sleep, Joey. I've got an idea we can try in the morning, the tattooes won't make you sad anymore, I promise." Jason said as he yawned and squeezed his arms around the smaller boy like he were a teddy bear. Joseph nodded sleepily, turning and burying his head underneath Jason's chin.

* * *

"...Oh! This one looks cool!" Joey said childishly as he bounced up and down on his heels, trying and failing to reach up at the picture on the wall to point at it.

"Joey, you are not getting a peace sign tattoo." Jason said simply as he chuckled.

Turns out Johnny Rancid had a good friend that was once a tattoo artist, one that also owed him a favor. And so now, a crime boss, an almost rehabilitated serial killer, and a very amused tattooed biker all stood inside of a tattoo parlor, acting as if Jason having men tear out the phone lines was the most normal thing in the world. The man looked harmless enough, like it was a normal Monday to have a pistol pointed at him and a man threaten that if he told the cops they were there he'd blow his head off.

"...Why don't we start with this one, what do you want it to be changed to?" Jason said as he traced on the letterings that spelled out 'toy' on his lower back, not noticing the shivers that traveled through Joseph's body at the touch to his naked torso by Jason of all people.

"Well, we could easily turn it into another word, something special to you…" The old bearded tattoo artist said to Joseph before trailing off, Jason listening intently and not seeing the cryptic way Joseph was staring at him.

"Todd." Joseph said with finality.

"...Todd? Joseph...don't you want this to be something special, something really important to you?" Jason asked, trying not to flat out tell the kid that Jason wouldn't always be there with him.

"You _are_ special and important to me. I want this to say Todd. Oh - and this one can be changed into a prettier diamond instead of a scrappy one! Oh, oh - and this-" Joseph said before rambling away with how excited he was about the whole situation. Not only was he outside, his urge to murder the man in the shop gone, but he was outside with Jason. Jason, who was still even now making a constant effort to help Joseph overcome everything that was The Joker.

Jason sighed, resigned to knowing that there really was no talking Joseph out of this if it's what he really wanted.

"Okay, okay. So is it doable?" Jason asked the grey haired man who was already setting up the needles and ink.

"Oh, definitely! Should be a piece of cake." The man answered as he approached where Joseph was already sitting with his back turned for the tattoo to be done.

"You can hold my hand if it hurts. These things aren't exactly like feathers." Jason said, very uncomfortable with the thought of Joseph hurting at all. Joseph nodded, placing his hand in Jason's and blushing just the smallest bit when Jason squeezed their hands together, their warmth mixing.

"You're taking this very well for someone of your, ah...stature." The man commented, noticing how Joseph didn't even flinch when he let the needles dig into Joseph's skin, Joseph much too worried with memorizing every feature of Jason's face to try and pretend that the needles hurt.

"I lost all fear and feeling of physical pain a long time ago. Nothing really hurts anymore unless it's emotional and makes me sad." Joseph said in his still cheery voice, starting to swing his and Jason's intertwined hands back and forth like a child.

"...You're still holding my hand though…?" Jason asked in question.

"I know." Joseph said with a cute smile as he looked up at the now blushing boy, ignoring Johnny's chuckles and snickers in the back of the shop. Jason wondered if Joseph had always been like this, or if this was just what was left. Or maybe Joseph was, dare he say, _flirting_ with Jason? Joseph as a person was confusing and complicated, so thinking on it too long would only give Jason a headache.

When the man had finally gotten done with almost all of the ugly scar like tattooes on Joseph's body, Joseph held his hand up to Jason's face in commandment.

"I want this…" He said in an order like tone before breaking a little bit, looking sadly at the ugly cursive that said 'reality'.

"...to say 'reason'." Joseph said as he looked up at Jason with hope and love. Jason had never been looked at with that kind of expression, not even by his own folks.

When they had finally gotten through, Joey was littered with random and well done diamonds, pretty cursive that said very important phrases, and a haunting robin that had been turned into a black and white crow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Joey squealed as he pounced on Jason, sending the young man toppling to the ground with a shirtless Joey on top of him and hugging his neck.

"Do I look good now?" Joseph asked innocently as Johnny all but doubled over to Jason's beet red face.

"C'mon Jase, tell the boy just how good you think he looks!" Johnny urged before Jason turned and glared death at him, grumbling.

"You...you look adequate." Jason said as he pushed the blonde off of him and his his own red face, taking note of Joseph's pout.

"Put your shirt back on." Jason commanded as he threw the black tee at Joseph, hitting the blonde right in the face with the cotton.

Joseph blew a raspberry at both him and a still chuckling Johnny, slipping back on the black shirt with the Insane Clown Posse's insignia on it.

"JASON!" Joseph all but screamed, Jason whipping around with his pistol loaded to shoot down anyone who even dared to look at his Joseph wrong.

Jason saw no one. Instead, he saw Joseph freaking out over a stupid black choker that had a red x hanging from it. Joseph's eyes were wide like a child's, deep and pleading.

"Please, please? Please, I'll do the dishes for like, a whole month!" Joseph said as if were the dearest thing he could offer in the world.

Jason grumbled tiredly as he raked a hand over his face and then turned to glare at his accomplice.

"What? Don't look at me. You're the one that signed up for serial killer-sitting." Johnny said nonchalantly.

[This was fun to write, I love childish Joseph. Read and Review please!]


	7. Wayne Corps

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. /Cries because I have so much that I want to write and so little time to do so/. Also, here's a fun game: can you spot just how many jabs at Superman I was able to fit into one chapter?]

"You let the serial killer...get a job?" Johnny said slowly as he tried to process all of the information his boss was giving him as they drove up to a building decked in disguises.

"...A job at Wayne Corps?" Johnny continued, completely outdone with what Jason had let happen as their car came to a stop in front of the pristine building.

"C'mon Johnny, give the kid a break. He isn't so much of a serial killer anymore. The voices have stopped, his first instinct when people tap him on the shoulder isn't to turn around and snarl, and he even had me buy some nice clothes for the interview." Jason said as he tried to best to look inconspicuous behind his shades while entering the very business that wanted him dead the most.

"...and by that you mean he outright told you that if you didn't let him get a job, he'd start crying. Correct?" Johnny said knowingly as Jason sweated under his friend's glare.

As the two walked in through the double doors of the enormous skyscraper, they were taken aback by the sheer cleanliness of the area. The two actually had thoughts about turning back while they were ahead to stay out of trouble, but Jason never got so far as Joseph suddenly started excitedly waving him down. Jason sighed as he grabbed a still trying to escape Johnny by the arm and headed toward the eager blonde boy behind the large desk that seemed to be symmetrically perfect in the middle of everything.

"How cool is this? I feel like a real civilian!" Joey whisper yelled as if he were undercover, bouncing up and down from where he was seated behind a very complicated looking computer.

"Joey, you _are_ a real civilian. Remember?" Jason said as he tried to get Joseph to remember their earlier disagreement. Joseph seemed to be convinced that since he was once a criminal, he'd always be a criminal, and that he was 'hiding out' among other normal civilians at his job.

"Yeah okay, okay." Joseph said as he tried to change the subject while rolling his eyes.

"So...what are you, a tax accountant?" Johnny asked as he gestured towards Joseph's clothing distastefully.

Joseph looked offended for a split second, considering he spent almost a full hour trying to find an outfit that looked normal enough to work in and not freak people out.

He wore a blue button up shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, just barely hiding one of his many diamond tattooes and showing off his 'reason' tattoo proudly. He also wore black skinny jeans and black combat boots, much too emotionally invested in them to part with the objects. He'd even gone and bought himself fake glasses, if only because he'd once heard Jason say that everyone who worked at Wayne Corps was either secretly a demon or a nerd. It really was amazing how many people could be fooled by just a pair of glasses and a change in wardrobe.

"I am a secretary, thank you very much, oh goth rip off of a 90s Rolling Stone magazine." Joseph shot back as he returned Johnny's distasteful look.

"...You still have that dumb necklace on?" Jason said with a sigh as he pointed at the black choker with the comic book esque red X hanging from it.

Joseph raised a hand to caress the X on his neck very softly, as if touching it would cause it to break. He looked down for a moment, avoiding Jason's gaze before he looked back up and moved a stray lock of blonde hair out of his face.

"...One of the reasons I'm so...not violent when I'm with you is because you make me feel safe. I can trust you, and I know you'll always protect me no matter what." Joseph explained as he once again looked out of the corner of his eyes to ignore Jason's heated gaze.

"...Wearing this reminds me that even when you aren't here to make me feel safe, you are. If that makes any sense. Wearing the X around me reminds me that even if I'm not with you right then, I always have someone and somewhere to go back to and feel safe when things go wrong." Joseph finished, finally looking into Jason's face and not even realizing how easily Jason could fall into Joseph's emerald eyes.

"...So when's the marrai-GAH!" Johnny began jokingly before Jason promptly kicked him as hard as possible in the shin.

Jason turned back around to Joey to see Joey looking up at him with a hopeful expression, like he'd been working really hard to earn something from Jason. The older boy chuckled at Joseph's wide, childish grin.

"...I'm very proud of you, Joseph. You did all of this all by yourself, without any help from me at all." Jason said as he ruffled Joseph's hair. Joseph looked down and blushed the smallest bit before smiling up at Jason again like a puppy that'd just been given a treat.

"So," Jason began as he started feeling himself losing his edge, growing softer since he'd first taken Joseph in.

"What exactly is it you do, anyway?" Jason asked rhetorically, knowing that if he didn't ask now Joseph would just go on and on about it that night before bed.

"Oh - you won't believe how many things Wayne Corps produces and sells! It's my job to log everything and take care of anyone that comes through the double doors. Oh-" Joseph began before leaning toward Jason, cupping a hand on the side of his mouth and whispering something like a secret.

"-And Mr. Wayne pays me extra to keep people out of his office. I usually just tell them he's sick or at lunch, it works. Sometimes." Joseph whispered as Jason chuckled at his behavior.

"And I get to handle the phone line too! There's this dorky reporter guy that always calls up here demanding to talk to Mr. Wayne, and I get to turn him down. Is it bad that that's the best part of this job? Because it's super fun! His name's Clark Kent, and he calls up here like the grand master, as if Mr. Wayne is required to talk to him! He's a real prick." Joseph babbled excitedly, trying to get Jason as excited about his job as he was.

"Mr. Wayne pays me an extra ten bucks every time the Kent guy calls up here and I get him to leave Mr. Wayne alone." Joseph commented as Jason shook his head and Johnny chuckled.

"Most of the people that work here are all real douchebags. Y'know, suit and tie kind of people. But I met someone!" Joseph said, unknowing to how Jason's heart stopped at 'I met someone'. Did Joseph really get over Jason that fast? Was there really nothing going on between them? These thoughts buzzed through Jason's head at breakneck speed before he heard Joseph actually finish his thought.

"His name's Mr. Jones. He's this super nice old guy that has like a thousand grandkids, and he's been helping me get the hang of everything! Isn't he just super nice?" Joseph finished as Jason let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding.

"Oh man, Jase. You better watch out, you got some _real_ competition now." Johnny said teasingly as Jason blushed a bit and kicked Johnny in the shin for the second time that day.

"Well," Jason said as he tried to escape both the conversation and the large skyscraper.

"I'm very glad you were able to find a job you like. This...suits you." Jason said as he patted Joseph's head once again.

Joseph had a job, he had a stable state of mind, and he now had a set of peers that weren't gangsters. Jason's plan was almost complete, but he didn't know if he had it in him to let go of Joseph now. Joseph was a weakness for him, a soft spot, a drug he couldn't get rid of.

Jason knew that for Joseph to have a normal life, Jason would have to leave him. But in the same way Joseph needed Jason to keep his life together when they'd first met, the tables seemed to have turned dramatically.

[Read and review! Can you tell how much I like the idea of Bruce Wayne just wanting a break from his 'leader' for ten seconds? Also, concept: Bruce actually knowing who Joey is and giving him the job because he knows he used to be a good kid.]


	8. Wounds

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Also, this was meant to be foreboding. Not cute. It turned out to be both at the same time. Oops.]

Jason had been gone almost all day. Joseph was starting to get worried, very worried. Jason never lied to Joseph, so he must've gotten hung up with doing whatever he was doing in Gotham. That didn't settle Joseph's nerves any. Without Jason in the house, it just felt empty and...wrong.

Despite how highly Jason seemed to think of Joseph, Joseph still desperately clinged onto Jason being with him all the time like it was his sanity.

Jason said he'd had some business to take care of in downtown Gotham, but that he'd be back before dark. It was ten o'clock and very much nighttime, with still no Jason Todd to be seen anywhere in the house.

Joseph sat lonely on their shared bed, cross legged with a laptop in front of him. He didn't really know what he was doing with it, just that the light coming from the screen seemed to calm his nerves just the smallest bit.

Suddenly, Joseph perked up when he heard a door opening, smiling brightly and letting relief wash over him as he raced to find Jason. What was he thinking? Jason could absolutely handle himself.

And then Joseph's heart stopped as he came face to face with a broken and bloody Jason Todd that was warily taking his coat off in the dim light of the doorway.

"Jason! What...W-What happened?" Joseph asked worriedly as he raced over to Jason's about to fall over figure.

"I...Chartreuse-" Jason said with heavy breaths before he started coughing up blood on Joseph's clean clothes. Joseph glared darkly at the name. All of Jason's providers kept undercover, using code names, and Chartreuse had been notorious for threatening Jason lately.

Before Jason could protest, he found himself sitting shirtless on his and Joey's shared bed as Joey covered him in gauze and medical supplies. According to the very much unqualified Joseph, he had a broken rib and many, many cuts and jabs that left him bloody. Jason refused to talk to Joseph about what happened, both out of pride and fear. He didn't want Joseph to think less of him, or that Jason was weak, and he also didn't want Joseph to feel like Jason couldn't stop Chartreuse if he came after the two.

While Jason was wrapped up in his own thoughts, Joseph was trying his very best to distract himself. After all this time, the sight of blood still made Joseph thirsty - in more ways than one. So now it was a mental debate of - A) Fool his mind into imagining that the blood wasn't Jason's, and was instead Chartreuse's, therefore causing his face to bloom redder than Jason's - or B) Accept that the blood was Jason's and go on a homicidal rage throughout the house and break everything in sight.

So far, Joseph was doing an okay job trying not to think about it by tracing Jason's jawline with his heated gaze, still applying alcohol and gauze to Jason's toned chest.

Suddenly, Joseph sat up fully and looked very cryptically at Jason's busted lip, remembering something that someone had told him earlier.

And like that, Jason was red now from the blood inside of his body rushing to his face instead of rushing out of his wounds.

Joseph had his very soft, pink lips pressed gently to Jason's bloody ones, putting a hand on Jason's defined cheek to hold him still.

Joseph had successfully broken Jason mentally. Jason promised to himself that if this is how he went out, mental breakdown due to his very innocent crush, he'd come back from the dead and haunt Chartreuse until the stout man committed suicide.

"Mr. Jones told me that when he kisses his grandkids' wounds, they feel better. Do you feel any better?" Joseph asked in a very concerned voice, convinced that the red in Jason's cheek was from blood trauma instead of embarrassment.

"...Well, I mean, I guess. I could...maybe, y'know, use another one though…" Jason mumbled, trying and failing to be smooth in front of the only just now catching on Joseph.

Jason knew he'd fucked up, but he didn't care. This was wrong, blatantly flirting with someone you knew for a fact that you couldn't have. But when Joseph let realization dawn on him and ducked his head down bashfully, slowly leaning toward Jason, Jason realized that he didn't give a shit anymore.

Joseph leaned closer and closer to Jason, slower than he'd ever moved so that if Jason finally came to his senses and realized that Joseph wasn't all Jason made him out to be, he could easily back out. The closer that the two moved to each other, the faster that Jason could hear his heart trying to convince itself that, no, this was not a dream. The person he'd had a crush on for almost a full year was right in front of him, returning his feelings and enjoying it.

When their lips finally touched, Jason swore his spirit left his body right then and there. Jason's heart was pumping and he could hear his blood moving rapidly in his ears. Jason almost melted when Joey let out a breathless sigh, moving even closer and deepening the once innocent lip contact. Joseph softly rested his hand against Jason's still bare chest, right where his heart would be, and Jason swore that if Joseph went feral and ripped Jason's heart out of his chest right there, Jason would be too dazed and in love to care.

Slowly, Jason reached over and wrapped one of his gauze covered arms around the lithe boy's waist and pulled the blonde closer, the boy practically scrambling to sit in Jason's lap. Almost like clockwork, the two put their remaining empty hands around each other's necks simultaneously and breathed even heavier as they got sucked up in the feeling that was each other. Nothing in the world mattered but the other in that moment, and Jason swore if he woke up in bed like he'd had a dream he'd go out on a killing spree in righteous anger.

But when Joey moaned desperately into Jason's mouth, Jason all but ripped his clothes off right there, finally convinced that his own brain couldn't even dream of creating such a beautiful sound. Joseph started shakily clawing through Jason's hair, gripping it some to find something, anything that could anchor him to reality in that moment.

Finally, Joseph pulled away, Jason seeming to chase his retreating lips.

The two were panting heavily. Jason's hair was mussed and wild from Joseph trying to grip on it and play with it, and Joseph's hair was just as messy. Joey's glasses were crooked and it made him and his blushing face look even cuter to Jason. Joseph looked at Jason with an expression he'd never seen on the boy before, and he couldn't quite place the mixture of awe and worship in the boy's eyes. Joseph bit his lip bashfully as a strand of spit connecting them finally withered into nonexistence, looking down to gather his courage before he finally looked up and spoke.

With one last breath, Joseph spoke, "Jason I...I-I lo-"

"Ahem, am I interrupting something?" Came Johnny suddenly, scaring the wits out of both of the boys. Jason made a very inhuman sound of both being startled and furious at the same time, and Joseph squeaked in an embarrassed voice as he jumped out of Jason's arms and landed on the floor disgracefully.

Jason turned around and Johnny practically sunk into the floor with the hellish look Jason gave him.

"...Johnny?" Jason said slowly.

"...Y-Yes, Red?" Johnny answered as he sweated nervously.

"...Run." Jason said with hatred as Johnny halled ass out of the room, only for Jason to chase after him with a book in his hand to beat Johnny's brains out with.

When Joseph finally recovered from his painful fall to the dirty floor, his heart started speeding up, and his vision started twisting and turning like Vegas lights, a voice screaming behind him.

Joseph turned emotionlessly to where a single baseball bat stood leaned against the wall of their bedroom.

Now was his chance, while Jason was distracted.

'Chartreuse' was going to pay dearly for what the man had done to Joey's precious Jason.

[Read and review! wOW this chapter was a rollercoaster to write.]


	9. Not Me

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This one is short, mainly because it was borderline impossible for me to crank this out.]

A very undone, fittingly buzzed looking Joseph stood tall and proud over the body of a dead man and the almost pentagram like circle of his dead employees. Joseph took in a deep breath of air, seeming to feed off of the scent of the already rotting corpses and their blood flooding the floor surrounding him. He had an insane smile spread across his face, and a drunken look in his eyes from his recent kills. Joey bit his lip and chuckled to himself, his chuckle; not the Joker's.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Joey was snapped from his reverie by the sound of someone moving along the pipes above him in the factory that Joseph and his victims laid silent. Joseph whipped his head upwards, the baseball he'd used to smash the worker's skulls raised as a weapon yet again. His eyes looked feral and excited, like he desperately wished and hoped for someone to come down so he could take them out as well.

Before he could even make a sound however, a larger figure came out of nowhere and pushed him to the ground, hiding them both behind a large steel barrier that was left in the factory. Joseph struggled for a moment before he finally recognized the jittery shushing noises coming from his pursuer.

"Jason?!" Joseph said louder than what Jason was comfortable with.

"Shh! Joey, I need you to snap out of this, we don't have time for this right now! You've managed to get The Bat on our trail!" Jason whisper yelled, holding their foreheads together as he normally did if Joseph was stuck in a hallucinatory rampage or a mental breakdown.

Joseph angrily moved Jason's face away with a glare, angry that the first conclusion that Jason came to was that he had lost it yet again.

"I don't need to snap out of anything. Jason those guys hur-" Joseph began only for Jason to clamp a rough hand over his very loud mouth.

"SHHH!" Jason urged as he gripped Joseph's wrist and practically dragged the boy out of the factory and to a car that he had parked outside.

Joey plopped into the passenger seat, hands shaking still from the excitement of what he'd done after so long abstaining from it. Joseph could taste the tension in the air between the two boys. Jason was disappointed, frustrated, but he wasn't angry - he could never stay angry at the blonde.

Finally, when all was quiet, a large and dark figure hopped onto the roof of the car. Jason swerved left and right trying to knock The Batman off of the hood of the car, but only to more frustration.

Joseph finally let out a noise of frustration before he reached over and into Jason's jacket, pulling out a pistol and shooting at the roof of the car - sending The Batman dancing from the unforeseeable bullets.

Jason laughed with adrenaline, his previous thoughts about Joey forgotten as the two easily lost The Bat. Jason Todd had escaped the bat with not an army of henchmen, but a single blonde child that was capable of much more than Jason previously knew. He was ecstatic.

* * *

And then that feeling of electricity and excitement wore off, and Jason was found yelling at Joseph in the living room. The two were standing across from each other, both glaring at the other.

"What were you thinking? You could've gotten hurt! You could've gotten caught! You could've been kidnapped by Batman!" Jason yelled. Well really, it was less yelling and more frustration edged into his normal voice tone.

"But I didn't! Jason, it's not that big of a dea-" Joseph said right back with a roll of his eyes, nearly jumping back when Jason interrupted him.

"You murdered seventeen people Joey!" Jason said in an exasperated voice, waving his hands around for effect.

"You were going to murder them anyway, weren't you? What's the difference if I do it for you? They deserved it, they hurt you!" Joseph yelled as if it were them most obvious and logical reasoning in the world.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Jason roared, sending Joseph flinching and rearing back away from the boy.

"I...I can't lose you...you mean everything to me…" Jason admitted with his head hanging.

"...Joseph-" Jason began, only for Joseph to interrupt him rudely.

"Stop calling me that." Joey said in a dark, foreboding voice that Jason had never heard before.

"Wha-? Maybe...maybe if we start-" Jason mumbled to himself, mostly.

"Stop it! I'm not sick! I'm not in need of curing!" Joseph practically screamed.

"You never fixed me because I don't need to be fixed, Jason! I lied. I still hear the voices, I still see things, I still want to kill everyone who looks at you wrong! I...I love the voices in my head, Jase. But I don't need fixing! I love the way I am...this-this is me, Jason!" Joseph continued, getting close to Jason's face.

"You want to fix me, but maybe I like being broken. I'm not Joseph, and I never will be! I changed so that you would love me like I love you. Joseph is gone, he's never coming back except for those blood curdling images I get from his past. I can help you, I'm just as strong as any other criminal, just let me in!" Joseph said on the verge of tears.

Jason's eyes changed for a moment, and he seemed to make a life altering decision as he watched a few tears slip down the passionate blonde's cheek.

"Goodbye, Joey." Jason said with a stone cold face, already zipping around the house to pack up random things and leave. He was going to come back, obviously, but by the time he did Joseph will have at least attempted to get a place of his own, somewhere far, far away from the gangster.

"...what…?" Joseph said brokenly.

Jason approached the blonde one last time with the look of a dead man in his eyes, kissing Joseph on the cheek before Jason sped out of the door, headed for his car so Joseph wouldn't have time to chase him.

[vERy short, this chapter was very hard for me to write and I don't know why. Read and review!]


	10. Love Hurts

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Guess who's back? School's started up again, so while I might not be able to update every single day, I'll still write as much as I can after school and on weekends. This chapter is just a repost with a few edits of the flashback from Suicide Squad 2, and the next chapter will be the same. After that, I will be writing for this story more, and I've already got a new chapter in the works! I hope you enjoy it!]

Wind whipped Jericho's blonde hair wildly as he sped through the city on a very loud motorcycle, chasing a very recognizable black and red Lamborghini. It was Jason's motorcycle, so he paid no mind to whether or not it was damaged in the slightest. The sound of the wind was hurting his ears, and the wind was hurting his eyes and his skin, but he was so consumed with empty grief that he didn't care.

He finally made it to where he was right next to Red-X, and could see him through the window of his expensive car. Jericho looked out pleadingly, almost like he was about to cry, and was only given a sad look and an obviously ignoring him Red-X in return. Jericho let out a cry of frustration as he sped out in front of the fast car, his anger fueling him.

Finally, when he was far enough in front of the black and white haired man, he turned the bike over on its side and then stood on top of it. Sparks came out from under the chopper, the friction against the road finally pulling it to a stop. Red-X himself had to admit, for someone so mundane looking, Jericho was by far the most fearless person he'd ever met.

When the motorcycle finally did come to a stop, Jericho strutted in between where the car was speeding towards him and where the bike had skidded to a stop - daring Red-X to hit him with the hood of his car. Red-X skidded to a stop right before the hood touched the fearless boy, muttering small curses under his breath.

"You're not leaving me. You're _not leaving me_!" Jericho shouted wrathfully as angry tears pricked his eyes, throwing his fists against the hood of the car to emphasize his point and stop himself from sucker punching the most feared person in all of Gotham.

"You….you, you, you, you...you're a pain in the ass." Red-X muttered to himself quietly, a small frown on his features as he was silently grateful the blonde boy couldn't hear him.

Finally, the man stepped out of the car as he threw the door open, approaching the other boy with caution as if he were a deranged animal.

"I have done everything you've said! I have changed, I have converted, I have made myself back into a normal person for you! I became a civilian because you said that's what I needed! I got a job at goddamn Wayne Corps, I have killed myself from the inside out to convert away from Joker and back into this 'Joseph' for you, you son of a bitch! I love you! Why can't you just...accept that?" Jericho screamed in all of his

mundane glory as Red-X rubbed a hand over his face in frustration.

"I got it, I got it, sweetheart, really. But I am not someone who is 'loved'. I am an idea, I am a mental state of being. I am the face of a revolution that has overtaken the entire world and left it a burning husk of itself!" Red-X screamed right back as Jericho let a few more tears roll down his peachy cheeks.

"Do you wanna know why I can't love you, Jericho? Do you really?" Red-X said as he got centimeters from the pitiful boy's face.

"I have a carefully thought out plan that must be executed according to my will as holy writ! And you - Jericho - are not apart of that plan. I am - dare I say - afraid of loving you, Jericho. Because loving you would mean the corruption of how empty I've forced my own heart to be after all these years in the dark." Red-X explained as Jericho whimpered with every word that ripped his heart out. Red-X finally took heed to the tears flowing freely from the boy's face, and kicked himself for feeling bad about causing them.

"Shh, shh, shh, listen, listen...dollface. I'm doing this, I'm tearing you apart from the inside out, because I know for a fact that it's the only way to get you to stop chasing my heart down. I am not good for you. I am not healthy for you. If anything, I'm almost as bad as the big J man himself." Red-X said as he lowered his voice and tried to ignore the burning feeling that came with Jericho's hiccuping sobs.

"I am a crime lord, a mob boss, a vagabond, and an all out scoundrel. Following me will only lead you to become just as corrupt as me. I spent all that time curing you of the Joker because you deserve a life Jericho, a real one. Not one surrounded by flying men and monsters. You're gonna go out into the world, and you are going to find a man who can provide everything for you and make you happy all of the time. You will find a real man, someone who's not a crime boss." Red-X said as he held Jericho's face in his hands and laid their foreheads together.

"I love you...I love you so goddamn much and that's why I can't be with you. You can't protect yourself like I can, and if I'm the reason you get hurt I swear on everything I'll kill myself Joey. I love you more than you could ever imagine, but I value your safety and happiness more than my own. Which - might I remind you - is a first for me." Red-X finally finished as Jericho pitifully rubbed his hands up and down the other man's arms, in search of something to anchor them together. As Red started walking away from Jericho's searching arms, he started right back up again.

"Just let me in just - I promise I won't hurt you! I won't hurt myself - please!" Jericho pleaded as Red-X groaned in frustration yet again.

"Promise? Promise?" X mocked if only to get the blonde even more riled up.

"Hey dickface! Mind screaming at your bitch somewhere else?" Yelled the trucker behind the fighting duo. Jericho didn't even take a second thought as he reached into X's jacket and pulled out a pistol, immediately dropping the man behind them dead. All those months of civilian-izing Jericho slipped away in just moments it seemed.

"I was gonna say I wouldn't do that if I were you...ugh." Red-X said as Jericho now held the pistol up right in the middle of the crime lord of Gotham's forehead.

"Don't hurt me? I'll be your friend!" Red-X teased as he toyed with Jericho even further.

"Do it. Do it, do it, do it, do it…" Red-X said pleadingly as he begged Jericho to pull the trigger, knowing he wasn't strong enough to do so.

"My heart scares you and a gun doesn't?" Jericho said through gritted teeth and blurry vision.

Finally after a few more minutes of this empty threat, Red yanked the gun from Jericho's limp hands.

"Y'know if you weren't so _crazy_ , I'd think you were in love with me." Red remarked cruelly.

"Do you understand now, Joey? Do you know why I'm pushing you away? I love you enough to want to make sure you're kept safe. If that means keeping you away from me and ripping your heart out in the process, then that's just what has to be done. I saved you from the Joker so that you could have a normal life. I don't want you to fall in love with me in the same way he made you think he was your savior." Red-X explained through almost crying eyes. No person had ever made him cry before, and it hurt. He wanted it to stop.

"Go...Go away. Go away while you still can, babydoll." Red-X said as Jericho gaped at the flood of real tears falling down the gangster's face.

[Once again, I repeat, I really do hope I made you cry.]


	11. You're My Reason

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. I tweaked this flashback some because I didn't like how I wrote it in Suicide Squad 2 since I've re-read it. Now, the chemicals are still very much dangerous chemicals that could seriously harm both of them instead of test dummies. It feels more powerful to me now. The outcome is the same though. Jericho is too far gone to really be affected anymore, and Jason is so focused on saving Joey that the chemicals can't very well get to his brain. Also: Rating update! Mostly for implied stuff.]

Jericho cryptically gazed down at the boiling vats of chemical waste beneath him. This factory was the only place he could think of to go. It was where The Joker himself would regularly take 'Jester' for his 'treatment'. While it was sick and cruel, it was the only bit of his past memory he could think of without breaking down again. Joker would drop Jester into the vats and then he would just leave for hours on end. It was the only time Joseph could recall bits of his former self. He didn't have Joker breathing down his neck all the time when he was here.

"What on Earth is this?" Red-X asked as he looked down at the chemicals distastefully.

"Chemical waste. It's said that just one drop can kill you if you're not careful. It was a miracle the Joker made it out alive. A lot of people think it's because he was already so mad that you couldn't even tell the effect on his mind. You have to be focused on something when you dropped in in order to not be corrupted by the waste." A still mundane Jericho answered, trying his hardest to ignore every voice in his head that was screaming at him. There was a long moment silence shared between the two.

"...I told you to stop chasing me." Jason said finally.

"I never asked you to follow me here." Jericho retorted with a punctuated glare at the other.

"...I meant it when I said I loved you Jericho. I still mean it. It's just...complicated, right now." Jason said softly.

"I don't care. I...I want this, I want you." Jericho said pitifully as he walked closer to the larger boy, who seemed to be radiating heat that Jericho craved in the cold of the factory.

"...You want this?" Jason asked softly as he dragged a finger softly down the lips that he'd spent whole nights laying awake and thinking about ravishing.

"Yes." Jericho said simply but strongly.

"Do not say this oath thoughtlessly." Jason said as he laid a hand over Jericho's lips.

"Desire becomes surrender, surrender becomes...power." Jason recited, seeming to feed off of every word.

"...please." Jericho said softly as he laid their foreheads together once again.

"God, you're so...perfect. And, you know that's why I can't have you. Don't you?" Jason said as Jericho closed his eyes and started backing away from him.

"Jason. Do you really love me?" Jericho said cryptically as he peered into the wall in front of him.

"More than anything." Jason said sadly.

"Then you're aware, I have no reason here. I have no...meaning." Jericho continued as he stared vacantly.

"I...I don't...understand…?" Jason said confusedly, not even noticing how close Jericho was getting to the edge of the platform they stood on.

"Without you, I have no reason left to live, Jay." Jericho said sadly as he felt his whole body wobble.

Jason simply shook his head back and forth in confusion.

"Give me back my reason to stay alive, Jason Todd." Jericho said as he stared longingly at Jason's figure and let his body drop into the boiling vat below them.

Just before he hit the water, Jericho could hear a muffled and agonized scream of 'Joey!' but it was muffled by the waste surrounding him. He let the chemicals flood his body, mostly his mind, as the air from his lungs leapt out of his mouth like small dancers.

Jason wasted no time, jumping in right after Jericho and not caring for how his very expensive clothes would be ruined.

Neither boy knew the outcome of the chemicals, they just knew that if one of them died, the other would surely be soon to follow. Joseph was already so far gone that the chemicals barely even affected him besides the fact that he was letting himself drown in the dark yellow liquid. Jason was much too focused on not letting Joseph die for the chemicals to get to his brain.

Neither of them knew the outcome of the chemicals, but both were very much willing to die then and there as long as they would die together.

Jason leapt in after Jericho, swimming to the bottom to grab Jericho's figure and bring it back to the surface. When the two resurfaced, Jericho looked completely knocked out as Jason sadly kissed his slowly awakening form.

When Jericho had finally gasped awake, was when he started listening to what Jason said.

" _You are my reason._ " Said the full out crying boy who was standing there, soaked to the bone in dirty water and waste as he held onto his lifeline like it was a figment of his imagination.

Suddenly Jason yanked Jericho toward him, kissing him roughly and passionately like Jericho had never known. And when they broke apart, Jason just stared longingly at the boy who was now gasping for air from the kiss instead of the chemicals.

"...Let me love you, babydoll." Jason said before Jericho launched himself at Jason with another searing, heated kiss.


	12. Bloody

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This chapter is EXTREMELY GORY. Please don't read it if you're very squeamish. Also, here's a reminder that the last word Jericho canonly said before his throat was slit was 'Daddy'. So anyway, this week on How Bad Can I Fuck Up My Favorite Characters:]

It had been a time since the initial chemical bath incident, and Jericho had definitely made a name for himself in Gotham's underground. He was Jason's most trustworthy and fearsome adversary, and anyone who crossed Jericho would pay dearly. He once again went back to the two toned Harley Quinn like outfits, but he had his own spin on them. Less 'Jester' and more too short shorts and fishnets. Jericho was to be feared just as much as Jason was.

Jericho stood in front of a large metal door, the interrogation room. Jason had recently let him start helping with interrogating people, and he was barely surprised at how good Joey was at it. Joey had the innate and disturbing ability to get someone screaming without even touching them, it was easy for him to get into people's heads from so long in Arkham Asylum.

"Are you sure about this?" Jason asked with a hand on Joey's shoulder, standing next to him in front of the door. Joseph gave him a quizzical look to counter Jason's worried one.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Jericho said with a reassuring chuckle as he wondered about his boyfriend's behavior and entered the room quietly.

Outside, Jason stood and he wrung his hands in worry. Joseph didn't remember a lot from his past, but seeing someone like this again could do some damage. Joseph demanded to be the one to interrogate him, unaware of how the man connected to his past, and only wanting to prove himself to Jason and Johnny.

Inside, Jericho's heels clicked dangerously around the old and blonde man who was strapped to a medieval looking chair by his legs, arms, and chest. The chair looked almost like an electrocution chair, though it definitely wasn't used as such. It brought back too many memories of painful shocks going through Jericho's brain.

Jericho giggled from where he was hidden in the darkness of the room, watching as Jackal only got somewhat unnerved and sweated slightly.

"C'mon...what do you idiots want from me? I've paid my dues, I've done my job. I _demand_ you let me go!" The man yelled from his chair, becoming unsettled by the distant and ever present giggling from Jericho.

"All that chit-chat's gonna get you hurt." Jericho said with a baby voice, running his hands up the man's arms from behind the chair and scaring the life out of the man by slamming his hands on the man's shoulders.

The man heaved for breath for a moment, finding the room much too musty for his tastes.

"...What…? What, do you think I'm... _afraid_ of you? I've murdered hundreds of children your size and I sleep like a kitten. You don't scare me, child. None of you do." The man said with a gruff voice and a still heaving cough.

"... _I_ am no _child_ , sir." Jericho said as he leisurely clicked his heels way around to face the man in the chair, leaning over the man. He bent over so their faces were just centimeters apart, Jericho's hands resting on the arms of the chair, and Jericho could _smell_ the vile corruption coming off of the man in waves.

"...Do you worst, _clown-slut_." The man spat in Jericho's face, causing his ever present maniacal grin to drop into a dark scowl.

"I. Will." Jericho promised with gritted teeth and snarl.

"Y'know...I was gonna say you reminded me of someone. Can't be the same person though - you can talk." The man said off handedly as Jericho lifted one eyebrow in demand for explanation.

"A long time ago, I came across this little blonde boy with just the _prettiest_ voice. I slit that stupid brat's throat wide open, and I laughed when he fell to his knees in a bloody heap." The man said with a gleeful, wistful smile - and Joseph felt frozen to the spot. He couldn't breathe, and he couldn't move away when the man leant forward to whisper in his ear.

" _Daddy, Daddy, help me! I can't move! I can't-_ " The man mocked in a fake child's voice right in Joseph's ear, then proceeding to make sickening gag noises like he were choking on the same blood the child did.

The man barked out a menacing laugh into Jericho's ear, and Jericho could hear his world shatter. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything but sit there and let violent tremors run through his body as he relived the memory over and over.

"...You didn't read the files your boss handed you on me, did you?" The man asked menacingly.

"Do you know who I am, blondie?" The man asked when met with deafening silence.

"J...J-J...Ja…-" Joseph breathed out in between whimpers and shakes.

"Jackal." The man finished for him.

Jericho backed up and blinked away tears, nearly hitting the cold wall as he tried his hardest to fight back against the urge to fall apart then and there. _No. No, not here, not now. No...no...NO!_

Jericho's eyes suddenly shot wide open in a fury he hadn't felt in a very long time, and his eyes started to feel warmer - kind of tingly. His breathing was heavy and labored, and his entire chest burnt like fire.

Jericho was centimeters from the man's face yet again like a flash, boring emerald eyes into deep blue ones with all of the fury and insanity of a tortured, ripped apart eighteen year old soul. Jericho's left hand was clutched tightly around the man's throat, and Jericho actually let out a series of growls at the man, never once closing his eyes. He felt like he almost couldn't.

Jackal shook with evil laughter, but then suddenly he started violently shaking in his chair, as if he were having a seizure - but Joey couldn't look away. He just kept staring deep and infuriated into the man's evil eyes, growling slowly calming down.

And then Jackal started spitting up blood everywhere. There was so, so much. He was choking on his own blood and gurgling out pathetic sounds, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Jericho's. Ruby blood spurted everywhere as if his own throat had been slit, and Jericho didn't even _flinch_ when a large portion of the man's blood ended up sprinkled onto his face. The longer this went on, the more violent the man's tremors become. Jericho couldn't stop, and he didn't want to - something told him that this man had to pay for everything he'd done.

Jackal's nose started spurting blood as well, and there was just _so much blood,_ more than Jericho had ever seen come from any one person in his life. The blood ran down the man's face, and where it didn't choke the air from his lungs it melted into his clothing and stained his upper body red. The man glared at Jericho, who was still glaring daggers, but it was obvious he was fighting viciously to merely stay conscious.

Suddenly, blood starts dribbling down from the man's hateful eyes, running down his face like tears and blurring his own vision. The scene reminds Joseph of a horror movie, yet still, he refused to stop.

Joseph slowly removed his clutching hand from the man's throat and backs away toward the wall, but he doesn't stop his staring. Joseph didn't know how this was happening, or why, but he felt a burning need to know just how far he could take it. Joseph backed away fully, and leant down to darkly glare at the man like a predator.

Jackal screamed louder than Jericho had since heard him, though it was muffled and watery through the blood. Jackal screeched as the very eyes Jericho was staring into popped right out of Jackal's skull like they were being pressured. Jericho couldn't stop - he just kept staring into the empty sockets that oozed a blackish colored blood like spilled ink.

Jackal screamed for a few more moments, only seconds at best though it felt like hours to Jericho. Jackal's screams slowly withered and died out, the gurgling over taking the vocal. Jackal shook more violently than Joey had seen yet, and he shakily tilted his head to the sky before his entire body fell limp in the pool of blood created around him.

William Walsh - Jackal - is dead.

As soon as those words echoed through Joseph's mind, Joseph let out a gasp of air and blinked his eyes rapidly, as if he were holding his breath underwater. Jericho's eyes start to cool down again, and he gasps at the sight before him. Apart of him was terrified of what he'd done, and another part was excited and proud.

The entire upper half of Jackal was covered in his own blood, and in the circular area around the man blood was scattered and pooled everywhere like in some horror movie. Jericho was covered in the warm liquid as well - and everywhere it touched his skin he felt even more powerful. Jericho's face was covered and sprinkled in the red liquid, and he had to stop himself from licking some of it off of his lips. His clothes were ruined as well.

Suddenly, Jericho heard the creaking door that led Johnny and Jason into the same room as him, and he froze. Jericho _knew_ Jason. And he could tell right now what was happening. Jason was absolutely terrified, but he couldn't let Jericho know that. Jericho needed _safety_ , he needed _security_ , he needed _help-_

Out of nowhere Jericho began screaming bloody murder and clutching his hands to the sides of his head like he could crush the voices out of his skull. He began stumbling about, half screaming and half sobbing, the voices of Jason and Johnny shouting for him sounding blurred and distant.

Jason's figure looked so far away as he grabbed Jericho's shoulders and started trying to shake him out of the episode he was having. Jason's blurry shouting and his worried figure were the last things Jericho saw before he blacked out and his head hit the solid ground with a sickening ' _crack_!', his blood joining and mixing up with Jackal's.

[I'm no good at writing really violent scenes, tell me how I did? Read and Review please!]


	13. Trust Me

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Yeah, this chapter was meant to be not-so-sweet. Oops. Also, if you're reading this, you should read XxPhoenix FlightxX's Bring Me Closer. It's a great portrayal of how Jericho transfers from civilian to villain, and the fighting technique is spot on as well. The first chapter is smut, mostly, and the fighting chapter is the third one. You should go read it! It's beautifully written!]

Jericho felt...light. He felt light, airy, and really, really tired. He hurt too, but he couldn't tell where - it was like he could feel the air around him hurting as well. Everything just hurt so much, and he wanted to go back to sleep, but something told him he couldn't - he wasn't allowed to, not yet.

Joseph took a deep breath in, and when he let it out he started coughing. He wasn't dizzy anymore, but he still hurt - and everything was still black.

Jericho jumped up in the medical style bed he was lain in, his eyes shooting open at the bright lights and the medieval tools scattered around him.

"Joey! Joey - _oh thank god_." Jason said in a worried tone, wrapping Joseph up in a hug before Joey could go into a breakdown because he thought he was in Arkham again.

Joey hissed at the pain in the back of his neck when he tried to turn his head around to actually talk to Jason and ask what was going on.

"Yeah, you had a pretty nasty fall. C'mon, at least lay back on the pillows." Jason said as he gently set up some pillows so that Joey could sit up but still be comforted somehow.

"...Wh-...Wha...mm..W-What happened…?" Joey asked drowsily, he felt like he had cotton balls in his mouth.

"Ah- well, you see what, uhm-" Jason started, unable to conjure up the right words to make sure Joey wouldn't completely freak out.

"You killed a guy with your eyeballs and then you went and knocked yourself out like an asshole." Johnny said very bluntly from where he was stationed at the other side of Joey's bed.

Jason glared pointedly at Johnny for a moment, nearly having a heart attack when Joey's eyes shot wide open and he started urgently sitting up and bombarding him with questions.

"Jackal! Jackal - is he, did I- Where am- No wait, first of all-"

"Joey. Breathe, it's okay, everything's okay, I took care of it - I promise." Jason said in a soft voice as he laid a hand on Joey's shoulder and pushed him back onto the pillows yet again.

"In for four, hold for seven, out for eight...breathe." Jason said softly as Joey closed his eyes and tried his best to calm his nerves.

"...What did I do?" Joey asked in a sad voice once he was sure he'd be okay with whatever Jason told him.

"Well, you did a lot of things Joey. You... _somehow_ , you retained your powers from before you were Jester, and you developed them in a way I don't think anyone would've expected. You killed a man with just a stare. The fear and the adrenaline must've been too much for you, and you passed out before Johnny or I could get to you. You're in a hospital in Star City, far away from anyone who'd hurt you. Johnny and I ah, _pulled some strings_ , and you're safe here, I promise." Jason explained, all the while soothingly running his fingers through Joey's blonde curls.

"...How long was I out?" Joseph asked as he leaned into Jason's touch, not seeing how Jason internally debated telling him the truth.

"...Seventy nine hours." Jason answered, jumping back when Joseph shot up.

"Seventy nine hours?!" Joey asked agape. Jason didn't really know what to do, so he sat in silence as Joseph let this thought sink in.

"...He's holding Waller in Eleania Bay." Joey said simply, gaining incredulous looks from the people around him.

"I...I don't know how I know but, you told me to find out where he has Waller and...she's in Eleania Bay." Joseph answered simply.

"You're never, _ever_ going to have to do that again. I promise-" Jason began only to be cut off.

"I want to." He said simply, gaining even more surprised looks.

"Joey, Joey no! You could've gotten hurt worse than this, we're lucky you even survived the coma, Joseph I can't just let you-" Jason began, to be cut off again by Joseph's very serious gaze and the small, delicate hand laid on top of Jason's.

"...Jason. Please. Jackal...he hurt me, he hurt me really bad, and I was able to avenge myself. I've just realized I have a power that allows me to take vengeance on all those killers and brutes that ruin entire families without second thought." Joseph tried to explain, only for Jason to turn his head away and close his eyes, knowing this was yet another argument he wouldn't win.

"Jason…" Joseph said pleadingly, softly as he reached out his other hand and very gently turned Jason's face to look at him once again.

"I know you're scared, even if you won't admit it. I get it - I'm the person you're more sure than anything will actually stay. But I'm not this fragile glass doll you make me out to be. Jason, I just _murdered_ someone. I've murdered more than just him. I know you're scared for me Jason but...I need you to trust me to protect myself. I need to know you trust me to be at least a little independent." Joseph said, gazing softly into Jason's eyes and seeming to spread a wave of calm through the other boy.

"Jason, I don't need a superhero to save the day and protect me. I need a friend who will let me lead when I need to." Joseph said softly, finally getting Jason to hum in agreement.

Jason suddenly brought Joey into a tight embrace, burying himself in the scent and the feeling that was just _Joey_.

"...I love you so much Joey." Jason murmured quietly into Joseph's hair.

"I love you too, Jay." Joseph responded, returning the hug and absorbing a lot of Jason's body heat.

"You are the cheesiest 'gangsters' I've ever met in my life." Johnny said flatly as the couple promptly ignored him.

[Like I said, very, very sweet for what I was going for. Read and Review please!]


	14. Revenge

[I'm finally back after being gone for so long! Of all stories, I really, really wanted to update this one. You won't understand the plot to this chapter much without having already ready Bring Me Closer by XxPhonixFlightxX, but, Chartreuse is the man who hurt Jason really bad before, and his men were the ones Joey lashed out on. This idea was originally XxPhoenixFlightxX's!]

Chartreuse was infuriated - he was seething. How dare this small, insignificant mutant child just jump into his picture perfect plan and ruin everything. If it weren't for that heathen that Red Hood had picked up, Chartreuse would be running the underground by now. Instead, he was down at least twenty men.

He took another long, frustrated smoke of his cigar.

"...Horus," the old, pompous man rasped through cigar smoke.

"...get me the phone."

* * *

"What...in the hell do you mean, you won't take the shot?" Chartreuse argued over the phone, taking another sip of his bourbon, trying to calm himself down.

"You heard what I said, you incorrigibly degenerate excuse for a man. I. Will. Not. Take. This. Shot." The hitman said eerily from the over the other line, frustrated with this almost full hour long argument going on.

"Dammit, man! I'm offering you 2.5 million dollars! You will never get this money anywhere else - I know you won't! If you don't take this job offer you'll do nothing to further yourself!" Chartreuse yelled, slamming his fists, his face going red as if he were a child not getting his way.

"...What is it exactly, that you want, Chartreuse?" The man sighed.

Chartreuse smiled.

"I want that brat dead! I want his head on my doorstep, and I want that smart tongue of his on a silver platter! I want you to make sure he dies nice and slow in front of that dumbass good for nothing Red Hood!" Chartreuse near screamed.

A moment of silence.

"Well then, I suppose you'd best find someone capable of taking the shot soon, shouldn't you? Because I wouldn't touch that boy if my life depended on it, Chartreuse."

"Wha- God...Goddammit! Don't you dare hang up on me! You wouldn't dare-"

Followed by the inevitable tone of an empty phone line.

"God fucking dammit Deathstroke!" The man screamed at the desolate phone as he slammed it down on his desk.

* * *

"Finally…" Chartreuse said to the phone with a sickening smile, "someone who I know will get the job done - no matter the target."

"Obviously. So, who's the lucky rabbit?" Grant replied over the phone with ever so present suave confidence.

"So, here's the deal. You get 2500 in payment, all you have to do is take out a simple target. He's not much more of a nuisance, really. He may be able to slip around some, but even he can't be impervious to the right bullet." Chartreuse explained.

Grant whistled at the sum.

"That...that is indeed a lot of money sir. And you didn't go to Deathstroke first because-?" Grant questioned, a bit suspicious. It was his father with the sharpshooter aim, not him. He was just the backup.

"Your worthless father isn't good for anything, boy. Slade was afraid to take the shot, but of course, I know you won't be." Chartreuse said slyly.

"...Who is this you want dead?" Grant asked, nervous suddenly.

"Goes by the name Jericho. He's that little runt blonde kid who's been hanging around Red Hood and doing all his dirty work. He's really nothing more than a glorified sex kitten if you ask me. Of course - I'm sure it's an easy shot for you." Chartreuse said, taking another sip of his alcohol.

"...Listen here, Chartreuse." Grant said in a dangerously venomous voice.

"...My father isn't afraid of Jericho - far from it. But I can promise you, if you're the reason any harm comes to that kid, you'll sure as damn hell be afraid of me. Now...do yourself a good favor for once, and never call this line again." Grant threatened before hastily hanging up on the line.

Chartreuse groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. Did this kid really have a reach this far? Were this many people afraid to shoot at him?

* * *

Chartreuse sighed, letting out a weak and tired "hello?" at the last person he was making a call to.

"How do you have this line, and what the hell do you want?" Snapped the girl on the other side.

Usually, Chartreuse would never stoop to this level. Not to her level. She was violent, bloodlusting, over the top, and less of a hitman and more of a paid serial killer. She obviously had serious mental issues of some kind, and she took her emotions out on the people who were on her hitlist.

But, when all is said and done, Ravager will never deny a hit. No matter who or what it is, she's all for the thrill.

"Ravager, it's Chartreuse. The man you met at your father's last meeting? I have a hit for you." He said in all seriousness. Chartreuse knew how to play people. Deathstroke was all business, Grant all ego, but Ravager - there was no playing Ravager, you couldn't even try. If he made one slip up and angered her, she would have his head on a plate.

"...I'm listening." She answered, with a slightly amused tone.

"It's this kid. Everyone's afraid of him and I can't imagine why. I've got a grudge, he took out 23 of my men and ruined my chance at the underground. I need him gone, fast." Chartreuse said.

"He's the one that's been around Red Hood. Blonde hair, green eyes, pale face, y'know, _that_ one. I've got a hefty price on his head. I just need him gone. I know you, I know you can get this done, it seems you're the only one who can get it done." Chartreuse said.

Silence. Silence, then heavy breathing, then suddenly the enraged scream of Ravager as she threw her phone against the wall hard enough to break in into pieces.

Finally, Chartreuse was starting to get a little worried.

* * *

After three hours and more than a few bourbons later, Chartreuse heard a cacophony of pained grunts and fist collisions and started shaking in his leather black chair like a child. This was it, Ravager had set her sights on him and he was going to die a horrible, bloody death all because of some stupid, insignificant annoyance Red Hood had picked up from the streets.

Suddenly, the grunts and the fighting back from his bodyguards outside stopped all at once, and a polite and petite knock sounded off the door.

A shaking Chartreuse, hiding behind his desk and his equally frightened and shaken personal bodyguard in the room with him shared a confused look.

Another few knocks, this time louder and more urgent, impatient even.

"...C-come in…?" Chartreuse sounded, hurrying to climb back in his chair and try to appear as if he hadn't been hiding like a child from the threat.

The doorknob turned ever so slowly, and Chartreuse was equally concerned, confused, and relieved to find that it was not Ravager at the door, brandishing her huge sword and out for blood.

She was a petite woman, but she looked...dangerous. Chartreuse couldn't put his finger on it. She was of the average height, the average weight. She wore simple clothing - a dark pink dress and heels, a pretty pearl necklace. Fluffy brown hair cascaded down her figure and she had the fine lines on her face of a mother.

"...Mr. Tristan Collins? Hello, I'm here on behalf of my family, my name is Adeline Kane." She said in a cheery voice like a telemarketer, smiling cheek to cheek. Chartreuse took an uneasy glance behind her at his nine knocked out bodyguards outside of the room, and faked a smile, shaking her hand.

"Hello, Ms. Kane. What...What can I do you for?" Chartreuse stuttered, wringing his hands nervously.

Adeline smiled sweetly again, humming a bit before reaching over and stealing Chartreuse's bourbon glass, swishing around the alcohol and studying it a bit.

Like a viper striking, Adeline moved faster than Chartreuse could keep up with.

Her smile dropped to a venomous frown in the same instant that she threw the glass against her side of the desk, creating a dangerously sharp edge of glass in her hand. Like a bolt, she suddenly spun around and sliced the sharp edge against Chartreuse's only remaining bodyguard's throat. She reached into the falling man's pocket, yanking out his gun and aiming at Chartreuse.

She didn't waste time, she didn't cackle, didn't monologue, didn't gloat. Adeline Kane was no villain - she was a mourning mother of three.

Instantly a gunshot fired and Chartreuse fell the ground, blood splattering the wall behind him.

Adeline sighed, shaking her head in disappointment before grabbing the other glass of bourbon the Chartreuse had laying on his desk. She downed it, before spitting it back out and making a gagging sound.

"Ugh - vile men and their alcohol. Why is it always bourbon?" She said to no one, spinning the gun in her hand.

[Read and Review please! I have a few more chapter I want to upload soon, so look out for those. If you don't know - Adeline is Joey's mother.]


	15. Aftermath

[Second chapter up today! I'm proud of myself! I wanted to write about the aftermath of Joey changing. Read until the end, there is finally a part with Joey in it too. So, to cover for a timeline: Joey is stolen by the Joker when he's 16, this is when Dick Grayson is still Robin, as well. The Joker keeps and beats him and makes him Jester for two years, until he's 18. Joey is stolen and rehabilitated by Jason right before he hits 19, and currently in the story, he's 19 halfway to 20. Just to recap.]

Nightwing sighed, cracking his knuckles just one more time out of nervous habit. He couldn't sleep, so why even try anymore? It was almost three in the morning and here Dick Grayson was, pouring over newspaper clipping and security files and police investigations over and over again.

Okay, yeah, maybe he didn't need to, maybe this was some form of self punishment for everything, for being the reason this happened, but no one was going to stop him, they couldn't.

Dick Grayson rubbed his sleep deprived eyes, the dark bags heavy under them. If Joey were here Dick knew exactly what he'd say.

 _What are you doing, dummy?_ He would sign, trying to be strict and intimidating, only for his worried face to betray him. _Go back to bed, the team needs you to be alert when we go on missions, not half asleep._ Joey would sigh and half hug Dick when he realized he wasn't listening, and then he'd promise that if Dick were going to stay up, so was Joey.

Now the thought only brings pain to Dick's face, a single tear dropping from his eye.

This was his fault - all of it was his fault, he knew it. He never should have brought Joey into that mess.

He remembers it like it happened yesterday.

 _Jericho and Robin were on the hunt for the Joker, who'd apparently kidnapped a hostage and was waiting for them in Arkham. Robin, being the idiot he was, didn't even noticed the dart. But Joey did - of course he did. Despite all the bat training and the natural alertness, it was Joey who was always more tuned into his environment, he had to be. Jericho ran forward and shoved Robin, letting the dart hit himself instead. Robin felt his heart stop as the dizzy form of Jericho - of his best friend in the entire world, his so long harbored crush, his platonic and hopefully romantic soulmate - crumpled to the ground in a heap without so much as five seconds of fight left in him. Then there was the laughing._

 _God, there was so much laughing, more than Robin could have ever imagined._

 _It came from all sides. And suddenly he was being bombarded with Joker's cultish clan, all of them going after Robin at once while Joker made his getaway with vulnerable, young, knocked out Jericho thrown over his shoulder like a sack of meat._

 _That was the last Robin had ever seen of his best friend for so long. With his eyes rolled up into his head in a sickly way, his limbs limp and dead._

Nightwing shook his head of the memory, refusing to relive it. It was more of a nightmare that haunted him now.

It was his fault - it was all Dick's fault that Jericho was gone. Sure, he was...alive, but he wasn't Jericho anymore. He wasn't the beautiful, pretty faced boy who would share hotdogs with him on stake out missions, and lie awake with him no matter the hour, all because he cared. No, Jericho was dead, Joker killed him.

This new Jericho - this terrorist, he wasn't the Jericho that Nightwing remembered. Not the one he fell in love with. No, Joker killed him just like he killed Dick's brother.

No...Dick Grayson killed Jericho, really. That's all least how he saw it. He ran into that mission headfirst, dragging Jericho along with him, all because he wanted to prove himself to Batman, to his father. Oh, he proved himself alright. He proved just how easy he was ripped apart by the loss of a single person.

Dick Grayson was the reason Joey was lost - he knew this to be true.

Nightwing led out a furious yell as he threw all the papers off of his desk in a fit, tears running down his face as he continued to mourn his friend for the umpteenth time in the past three years.

* * *

Raven gasped, sitting straight up in her bed like a board, and clawing into her dark sheets hard enough to almost make holes. Stiff, dry tears ran down her face, the only sign that she was still emotionally present.

She let out a hoarse, ragged sigh, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

This was nowhere near the first time this had happened - not even the first time this night.

Jericho and Raven had shared a special bond unlike anyone else's. It was almost comparable to Robin and her's, only it was more. Raven and Jericho were extremely close friends, and opened up to each other about a lot. They had a form of spiritual bond with each other, and ever since Jericho's disappearance, Raven had seen fits of emotional breakdown at random points at any time.

At first it was almost unbearable. Raven was the true and only reason the Titans didn't immediately hold a makeshift funeral for Jericho, she was how they knew he was alive in some way.

Raven would have these flashes, these fits of terror. It was near impossible for her to try and explain them. She would just be minding her business, and then suddenly, she was hit.

Because of their spiritual bond, Raven could genuinely feel Joseph's pain. It was only at random points when it would happen, but Raven could feel what Joseph was feeling, see what he was seeing, understand what he was thinking, and it was all so terrifying and traumatizing.

For the first two years when Joseph was abducted was when it was worse. Raven would be eating pizza in the living room with her friends, laughing, or she would be meditating outside calmly, and then suddenly she fell to her knees and started screaming and crying and clawing at her hair, begging for it to stop. The flashes barely lasted long, but it was long enough for Raven to realize what was happening to her close friend and for her to cry even more.

She would just be minding her business, and then suddenly she was strapped into a bed stolen from Arkham with leather straps, a gag in her mouth, as the Joker laughed and laughed and hit her over and over and over again either with two electroshock pads, a crowbar, or both. He would laugh and giggle and cackle at her tears - at Joseph's tears. And she would try to force her thoughts into her head - _Joseph, Joey please!_ She would scream. _It's me - it's your friend, your near sister, it's Raven! Remember me!_ She would howl into his head. He would never respond - not even once.

These days the flashes seemed to only happen at night - and only at ungodly hours as well. Raven sighed, laying back down and rubbing her head.

The flashes were nowhere near as violent, either, it seemed. Now, it was more of...just a feeling. She would just suddenly feel terrified, or insecure.

She also noticed, not all of the flashes were bad. Raven had a theory - that perhaps the flashes only happened when Joey was remembering her. Sometimes, the flashes would be scared and small, others, Raven would just become overwhelmed with this enormous feeling of calm. This calm, longing, melancholy feeling, like missing the first toy you got as a child, but not quite remember the name you gave it either.

Raven groaned, flipping over and going back to sleep. It was far too early in the morning to try and understand a psyche that Raven barely understood when Joey was sane.

* * *

Joey gasped, sitting up in his bed. He cracked his stiff neck a little as he remembered where he was, and calmed down a bit. He was in Jason's room, he was with Jason, he was safe. Jason himself was knocked out completely next to Jericho, deep in his sleep, and somehow not having heard Joey waking up at three in the morning.

Joey sighed, his face draining a bit. He snuck out of the large bed and shuffled his way into the kitchen, sitting at the counter with a pencil and some paper in hand.

This happened sometimes. It always hurt, but this was the only thing that helped him through it.

Jericho would swear up and down on his grave that he didn't remember anything about his past - but the truth was, it just hurt to remember. Some days, he genuinely didn't, and then some days he would do this. He would wake up in the middle of the night after reliving a past, not so painful memory, and he would shuffle into the kitchen, and he'd write letter after letter after letter to Dick, to Raven, to his brother and sister, to his mother and father, to everyone he'd ever hurt with his actions.

Sometimes, it was just a giant sheet that said "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" on it over and over again, other times, it was a detailed apology that explained his experiences and why he could never go back.

Jericho sobbed quietly as he wrote, switching in between his former pretty cursive writing and his new scribbling scratch of pen. He was so sorry, so sorry for all the pain he's caused. He loves his new life, but he wishes it didn't come at the expense of his family's happiness.

After about four new letters, Joey sighed, wiped away his tears, and trudged tiredly back into he and Jason's room. He hid the letters in a secret drawer, and forgot about them almost immediately as he climbed back into bed with Jason. He sighed, his eyes getting heavy once again as he melted against the warmth of Jason's body and the covers surrounding him, closing his eyes, and letting himself blissfully forget again.

Ignorance, truly, was bliss in situations like his.

[Read and Review please! I worked really hard on this chapter!]


	16. Nightmares

[So, this one's short. It's just a filler until the next chapter, and I wanted more fluffish stuff. Idea from letsjustnaptogether on tumblr.]

Jason woke up groggy and half dead when he felt Joey squirming uncomfortably against his chest. Jason stretched and cracked his back a little to wake up a little more and saw Joey trembling, squirming, and murmuring incoherent words of fright in his sleep.

Another nightmare, a memory, perhaps.

Jason settled back down behind Joey, wrapping him up in his arms and shushing him, soothing him slowly.

It was a slow process, but it always helped if he could get Joey to calm down _before_ he woke up, avoiding a breakdown or a panic attack.

Slowly, as Jason rubbed up and down Joey's arms, Joey's breathing slowed, and he stopped squirming.

Another ten minutes later of Jason whispering "shush" into his hair and reassuring him, and the murmurs died down to occasional whimpers.

Joey rolled over and buried himself in Jason's chest before his breath suddenly caught and then bright and dangerous neon green eyes startled open and panicked in the dark until they realized where they were, slowly dulling.

"...'nother nightmare, Jay…" Joey stated softly, his eyes already growing tired again.

"Yeah, I figured." Jason replied softly, just barely above a whisper.

Joey sighed and buried himself in Jason again, rubbing his cheek up and down on Jason's chest and trying to get as close to him as possible. Joey smiled soft and wide when he felt Jason's arms curling back around him, his fingers playing in Joey's hair.

Joey leaned up suddenly, presenting his face expectantly before Jason chuckled and pecked his lips, making Joey smile. Joey buried his face in Jason's neck immediately after, taking in his scent and how unbelievably warm he was.

Joey was safe here, he was warm, protected, familiar. He was with Jason, and as long as he was here, no nightmares could take him away.

[Read and Review please!]


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